Since the 1950s, the University of Iowa has given undergraduates the opportunity to work with top space scientists to build instruments that have travelled throughout our solar system and beyond. That hands-on experience has landed Hawkeyes jobs with NASA and prepared them for success in many other important industries.

UI engineering professor David Cwiertny decided to spend his sabbatical working for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and hopes his experience will inform his next course, Politics and Economics of Food, Energy and Water Systems. Cwiertny recently sat down with “Iowa Now” to discuss his time in D.C.

A University of Iowa study shows that college admission officers are more likely to accept low-income students if they have a better understanding of the high schools those students attend. The findings will be discussed at a May 22 symposium at the UI College of Education.

A group of 26 students from seven high schools across Iowa got to study with faculty and graduate students in the UI’s Nonfiction Writing Program through the Lloyd-Jones Residency for Versatile Writing. “I thought this only happened in the movies,” said one participant after attending a graduate student reading.

UI earth and environmental sciences professor David Peate is participating in an international expedition to study how Earth’s continents and oceans evolved. The shipboard team is drilling cores in the seabed of the South China Sea, and some of those samples will come to Iowa for analysis.

The University of Iowa and the city of Iowa City are rolling out the mobile parking service PassportParking, which allows drivers to pay for parking at meters on campus and around the city using smartphones, tablets, or any other electronic device. However, drivers can still pay with coin or card.

UI graduates celebrated a series of commencements May 11–14. From the Carver College of Medicine to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Hawkeyes cheered and shed some tears at the closing of an important chapter in their lives. Read a recap and check out some photos of the festivities.

Paul Gilbert, assistant professor of community and behavioral health in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, is studying people who quit drinking without using a treatment program. He’s interested to see what those who chose the “cold turkey” method can teach us about navigating successful roads to recovery.

A documentary about a collection of 100-year-old films preserved with the help of the University of Iowa will have its world premiere at the American Film Institute’s prestigious AFI DOCS film festival in Washington, D.C., in June. The films, literally saved from the trash heap, are archived in Special Collections.

This isn’t your kids’ VR headset. Researchers at the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory are using augmented reality to assess how the proliferation of technology in the cockpit is affecting pilots’ concentration. They’re also using it to make difficult helicopter landings safer.

For the third year in a row, “Forbes Magazine” has included University of Iowa Health Care in its annual listing of the nation’s top employers. In the 2017 “Forbes” rankings of “America’s Best Employers,” UI Health Care was named the No. 5 employer in the health care industry and No. 14 overall.

José Diaz, from Melrose Park, Illinois, is graduating from the UI with a degree in finance and will soon be working at JPMorgan & Chase’s Chicago office. Diaz came from humble beginnings and is positioning himself to make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged and marginalized groups.